Bits & Pieces

Here are
brief articles, helpful background materials and discussion
fodder in
their own right. Other general resources on the Alley site include Tips & Advice
on collecting music – finding music, acquiring music,
and
organizing music collections – and an annotated list of recommended Books
& Websites.

This piece
begins with a factual history of cover records and then offers a
provocative
hypothesis about the role they may have played in bringing about the
explosion
of rock & roll on the pop scene in 1956.

Listening
to music today is different than it was back in the day. This piece
summarizes six distinct ways in which music listening has changed since
the 1980s. It includes a summary table of all six differences across
three points in time.

A list of
all the factors I've come across that can influence sound quality or
the
listener's experience of recorded music. It's presented here to serve
as
background for more specific blogs and discussions in the Listening
to Music topic.

Possible
future subjects I've considered for Bits & Pieces include The
Rock &
Roll Hall of Fame, pop music charts, and rock & soul music on
DVDs. Bits on
other subjects like these will be based on Cats' interests and Gator's
time. I welcome private email from Cats who
might want to author their own Bits
&
Pieces, especially to expand the scope of interests represented on the
site.